Andriod Phone Apps

KAM said:
An NMEA repeater app is exactly what is required. This needs some low cost hardware to link to the nmea network without having to use a PC. The only thing I have found so far is the digital yacht wifi converter but this is very expensive.
Click to expand...

It's a non-trivial task to build such a thing - I'm working on something a lot simpler at the moment and it is going to cost well on the way to £100 in parts alone. OK - you could do it cheaper building from scratch, but it's hard work soldering up modern surface mount components. I'm using a couple of modules from Arduino which cost about £30 each, then I'm going to need a WiFi bridge that will be another £30. Add a small case and a few other supporting components and we are up to the £100. How much is that Digital Yacht thing? I suspect you would have to value your time very cheaply to justify trying to build one yourself!
 
can the tacktick wireless system be amended to output over wifi n/g/b or bluetooth rather than its proprietry wireless bandwidth?


I know tacktick nmea transmitters can be had on ebay for around £100 - surely the wifi/bluetooth transmitters are only a few pounds?
 
This may be a little circular :-). I think Hans's reply was to my post #35 asking about android nmea display apps to test the multiplexer/wifi thingy I built from a raspberry pi and posted about here. Costs (see the link) rather less than most of the alternatives. The multiplexer software (works on pi, but also on a mac, linux or freebsd laptop) is kplex which I've sadly only had feedback on from one person so far. I think distributing it in source format and not having a gui puts most people off so in the coming week I'll look at putting a pi deb together and whilst I'm normally gui-averse I'll look at knocking a GUI together if that's actually the only thing putting people off.

Meantime nmea display apps may be the metaphorical buses of android. Wait ages for one to come along..well I got bored waiting and started looking into writing my own...

If I get some time after new year I'll see about some kind of howto for the pi access point with nmea multiplexing for those not super familiar with Linux.
 
alteredoutlook said:
can the tacktick wireless system be amended to output over wifi n/g/b or bluetooth rather than its proprietry wireless bandwidth?


I know tacktick nmea transmitters can be had on ebay for around £100 - surely the wifi/bluetooth transmitters are only a few pounds?
Click to expand...

The Tacktick NMEA transmitters solve a different problem - they interface Tacktick wireless instruments with NMEA0183 networks - not Bluetooth or WiFi frequencies and a proprietary protocol. I repaired one recently and they are full of custom LSI components - not suitable for modification.

If anyone wants to tackle it, I think Arduino modules are the way to go. A processor board with loads of digital and analogue ports costs about £30 and an Ethernet module is another £30. There is a WiFi module for a little more and Bluetooth is also available. You can download the development software free and you just need a standard PC to program the card.

Has anyone get details of the standard NMEA over Ethernet protocol? I don't think I've ever seen it documented - might have a go sometime if I can get the protocol documentation, but it would not be an economical project - it would take a lot more than £125 worth of my time!
 
Two aps I'd love to see:

1) a simple compass ap that just shows when I deviate from the set course with a simple Red or Green colour. This would be great instead of watching a compass when out at sea. For example, if I am 5 deg off course it would show a small red or green dot. if 10 deg off course it shows a larger dot. If 15 deg off course the dot starts flashing, etc. Watching the numbers on a compass is impossible at 3 in the morning. This would make it much easier.

2) a REAL AIS that plugs into my hand held VHF radio. Not just the android AIS units that tap into the local web access, but a real AIS that I can use at sea without internet access. My android already has a real GPS on it, so I'd think that a real AIS would be relatively simple, even if it doesn't use actual charts but just shows ships around me so that I can call them by name.
 
maby said:
Has anyone get details of the standard NMEA over Ethernet protocol? I don't think I've ever seen it documented - might have a go sometime if I can get the protocol documentation, but it would not be an economical project - it would take a lot more than £125 worth of my time!
Click to expand...

Covered in this thread. Essentially it's just nmea-0183...but bunged into IP: either a tcp stream or a UDP packet. I'm not aware that there's any sort of documented "protocol". In the beta version of OpenCPN all the networking seems to be done behind wxSocket* objects which abstract UDP away into a datastream so the question of one vs. multiple packets doesn't arise.
 
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Foolish Muse said:
Two aps I'd love to see:

1) a simple compass ap that just shows when I deviate from the set course with a simple Red or Green colour. This would be great instead of watching a compass when out at sea. For example, if I am 5 deg off course it would show a small red or green dot. if 10 deg off course it shows a larger dot. If 15 deg off course the dot starts flashing, etc. Watching the numbers on a compass is impossible at 3 in the morning. This would make it much easier.

?.....
Click to expand...

Not sure I would want to take my tablet into the cockpit at 3am, but your compass application should not be too difficult. If I ever get round to hacking it together, are you Android or Apple?
 
maby said:
It's a non-trivial task to build such a thing - I'm working on something a lot simpler at the moment and it is going to cost well on the way to £100 in parts alone. OK - you could do it cheaper building from scratch, but it's hard work soldering up modern surface mount components. I'm using a couple of modules from Arduino which cost about £30 each, then I'm going to need a WiFi bridge that will be another £30. Add a small case and a few other supporting components and we are up to the £100. How much is that Digital Yacht thing? I suspect you would have to value your time very cheaply to justify trying to build one yourself!
Click to expand...


There are cheaper solutions!
I'm currently using two approaches:

1. BlueTooth:
http://dx.com/p/jy-mcu-arduino-bluetooth-wireless-serial-port-module-104299

You can connect with one device to it e.g. an Android phone, the thing is very cheap!

2. A wifi module: e.g. RN-171 (Farnell) has several modes, one of it is TCP.
I have been using it in a wifi network, so with an access point in it. It is also possible to use it as an ad-hoc open network, you don't need an ap in that case, you just connect it directly with your phone, but you are less flexible.

regards
Hans Fix
 
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